Patriots face potentially big loss in free agency

Glen Farley The Enterprise @GFarley_ent

Monday

Mar 12, 2018 at 6:24 PM

Six-foot-eight, 325-pound Nate Solder is about to hit the free-agent market. Tom Brady’s starting left tackle since Matt Light’s retirement in 2012, Solder is about to become an unrestricted free agent as the NFL’s free agency signing period begins Wednesday at 4 p.m.

With the NFL free agency period upon us, the Patriots find themselves facing a potentially big loss.

Six-foot-eight and 325 pounds, Nate Solder is about to become an unrestricted free agent.

But beyond – and more important than – Solder’s imposing stature lies his status in the Patriots’ offensive line.

Tom Brady’s starting left tackle since Matt Light’s retirement in 2012, Solder has never been named an All-Pro, but he was a Pro Bowl alternate in 2017 and he has been a model of durability, missing only two regular-season games in seven seasons since the Patriots made him the 17th overall selection in the 2011 NFL Draft.

As a guide to what Solder may command in 2018, recall that in September of 2015 he signed a two-year, $20.6 million extension to his rookie contract (with the terms of the deal forbidding the Patriots from placing the franchise tag on him). Factor in inflation and the fact that Solder is now on the open market (and at the top of it at his position) and the numbers only rise.

John McClain of the Houston Chronicle tweeted Monday that the “Texans are making a strong run” at Solder.

If Solder does leave, the Patriots’ primary options at the position would be Cameron Fleming and LaAdrian Waddle, but both of those players are about to become unrestricted free agents as well. The team selected Tony Garcia, an offensive tackle out of Troy, in the third round of the 2017 draft, but he spent his rookie season on the non-football injury list.

While any deals can’t be announced until the start of the league year at 4 p.m. on Wednesday, Monday morning kicked off the league’s legal tampering period, that time frame when teams and the agents of the soon-to-be free agents can begin negotiations (players are not allowed to make any visits, however).

The Patriots wrapped up some bookkeeping details last week, releasing tight end Martellus Bennett before he was to collect a $2 million roster bonus and cutting wide receiver-punt returner Bernard Reedy. Safety Bernard King, whose value lies as a core special-teamer, was signed to a two-year, $2.6 million contract before he was to become a restricted free agent. Wide receiver Kenny Britt, a late-season addition in December, was informed the option on his contract for 2018 would be exercised. Defensive tackle Alan Branch was told his option for the upcoming season would not be picked up.

Prior to that, running back Brandon Bolden, another veteran whose main value is as a core special-teamer, was signed for another year, removing him from the free-agent market before he got there.

And on Saturday, the Patriots reportedly agreed to send a third-round pick in the 2019 draft to the Cleveland in exchange for 335-pound defensive tackle Danny Shelton, an underachiever over three years with the Browns, and a fifth-round choice in this year’s draft.

Any of those players could be going (Butler is a certainty; Lewis may not be far behind) and others might require some serious work to retain (obviously, Solder for one; at this point, Amendola might become another).

Tight end Rob Gronkowski’s uncertain future could further cloud the picture (although the feeling here is that he’ll return and, for all anyone knows, he may have already made his plans known to the team), particularly with Dwayne Allen yielding next-to-no return following his acquisition from Indianapolis.

So, beyond those who may be going, who could be coming to New England?

Depending upon what transpires in regard to holding their own, offensive tackle, running back and tight end loom as positions of possible need for the Patriots, but as you no doubt noticed in the Super Bowl, as currently constituted they have major voids on the defensive side of the ball.

Edge rusher Derek Rivers, the team’s top pick (third round) in the 2017 draft, should be able to pitch in following a lost season (torn ACL), but there remains a dire need for help in the front seven.

On the back end, the loss of Butler – highly likely before the Super Bowl; a certainty in the aftermath of his benching in that game – will create a void on the corner some speculated might be filled with the addition of a marquee name like Aqib Talib or Richard Sherman, but the former was traded from Denver to the Los Angeles Rams, the latter released by Seattle one day and signed by San Francisco the next.

Looking further down the road, the Patriots currently hold seven picks in the April 26-28 draft: one each in the first, third, fourth, fifth and sixth rounds, plus two in the second. The additional pick in the second round, of course, was the compensation they received when they shipped quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo to San Francisco.

The Patriots have traded away single picks in the fourth and fifth rounds (in deals with Philadelphia and Seattle for cornerback Eric Rowe and defensive end Cassius Marsh, respectively) and two in the seventh (one to Cincinnati for Flowers; the other to the Seahawks as part of the Marsh trade).

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